Carrying case



Aug. 23, 1960 c. A. HEMPHILL CARRYING CASE Filed July 12, 1957 INVENTOR. CHARLES A. HEMPHILL YATTORNIIEY Patented Aug. 23, 1950 This invention relates to a carrying case for a plurality of diverse small objects and more particularly to such a carrying case which also acts as a display rack for the articles.

Door-to-door salesmen who promote the sale of a variety of small objects must have a case in which to transport those objects from house to house and must also have a display case which gives the observer as wide as possible a view of the objects. Previous attempts have been made to construct a carrying case which when opened prominently displays the various articles to be sold. These combination display cases and carriers generally take the form of suitcases with a specially constructed internal support that expands as the suitcase is opened to provide a relatively large display area.

The present invention contemplates a carrier display case which does not need to be opened or closed each time it is to be transported or shown to a customer. It may easily be carried by hand and when it is placed on the ground it fully displays each of the items which it carries.

In essence, the present invention comprises a box-like structure which is completely opened on the top side. Two vertical support members extend up from the sides of the container at opposite sides thereof. A vertical display board which has means for fixedly positioning a plurality of vari-shaped articles is supported on the vertical rods at a distance above the top of the edges of the carrier. A handle which extends above the tops of the board may be adjusted in height so as to be at a convenient position for the salesman to carry the entire case.

A fabric or plastic cover of a substantially bag-like shape may be provided to act as a protector for the contents of the case in inclement weather. This cover may be slipped over the top of the case and the handle may be gripped through the upper end of the cover.

The combination carrier display case of the present invention thus provides a convenient means for carrying a plurality of diverse articles from one point to another by hand as well as providing an effective means for displaying these articles without performing manual operations on the case. Therefore, a door-to-door salesman need not request permission to display his products since they are in full view is removed.

A particular embodiment of the present invention is described in detail in the following material. The description makes reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention which contains several items which it is desired to carry and display; and

Figure 2 is a partial view of the display board support rods of the present invention depicting the manner in which the boards attach to the support rods.

One of the two main carrying areas of the device comprises a rectangular box having an enclosed bottom and an open top. The box may be constructed of a sheet metal such as steel and coated with a glossy enamel. The exact shape of the bottom box 10 is unimportant to the purposes of this device, however, it is essential that the carrier 10 have an enclosed bottom and sides and an open top. A round configuration having these requirements would also suffice, although the rectangular configuration is preferred since it allows the user to carry the device close to his sides Without brushing his leg.

An inverted U-shaped hollow steel tube 12 is supported by opposed sides of the carrier 10'and has its ends as soon as the weather cover affixed to the internal sides of the carrier near the top.

The tubing 12 is attached to the sides of the carrier 10 by means of metallic straps 16 which surround the tubing 12 on one side and affix at each end to the carrier 10 through bolts and nuts 18. The nuts allow the strap 16 to be loosened so that the position of the tube 12 with respect to the carrier may be adjusted in order to accommodate the position of the handle portion 20 of the tube 12 to the comfort of the user.

Referring to Figure 2, it may be seen that at a distance above the top edge of the container 10 two bars 22 and 24 are aifixed between the two branches of the tube 12 on either side of the tube. In the preferred embodiment the cross members 22 and 24 are bolted to the member 12. The attachment may also be made by welding or otherwise afiixing the cross members to the sides of the bar 12.

I At a distance above the bars 22 and 24 a third horizontally disposed cross member 26 is aflixed between the legs of the tube 12. The member 26 is afiixed to the internally opposed edges of each of the legs rather than to the outer sides of the le s as are cross members 22 and 2 It is, therefore, positioned exactly on the center line through the tube 12 while the members 22 and 24 are arranged on either side of that center line.

The cross members 22, 24 and 26 act as supports for two article display boards 28 and 35 which are disposed in substantially vertical attitudes on either sides of the bars. Each of the boards 28 and 30 has a downwardly disposed rounded hook 32, which is adapted to fit over the cross member 26, attached to the rear side of its upper end near the central portion. At a point on the rear sides, spaced from the bracket 32 by the same vertical distance as the bar 26 is spaced from the bars 24 and 22, each of the boards 23 and 30 has two pairs of co-acting clamps 34 which are adapted to grip one of the bars 22 or 24. One of the boards 30 may, therefore, be attached to the carrier by slipping the hook 32 over the bar 26 and then pressing the clamps 34 into surrounding contact with either the bar 22 or 24, depending upon which side of the tube 12 the board is to be disposed upon. Since the bars 22 and 24 are separated from the center line of the bars 32, the boards are maintained at a slightly upward inclined angle so as to give the viewer a full view of the products contained thereon. It is also essential that the lower edges of the boards 28 and 36 be disposed at least four inches above the top edges of the sides of the box It} so that the contents of the box will be visible.

Each of the boards 28 and 30 has a plurality of small holes 36 spaced at regular intervals from one another about its surface. Elastic bands 38 may be woven in and out of the holes so as to provide variable length spacers for a variety of differently shaped articles that may be displayed on the board. It is to be understood that other methods of maintaining articles on the boards 28 and 30 may be employed in other embodiments of the invention. For instance, the magnetic board might be employed to retain metallic articles or articles provided with metallic clips. Similarly, small transparent containers might be disposed upon the surface of the board and might be used to retain articles in them.

That portion 20 of the tube 12 which extends above the top surfaces of the boards 28 and 30 acts as a handle. As was previously noted, this handle may be placed at adjustable height by varying the placement of the tube within the retaining strip 16. A rotatable gripping roll 14 surrounds the handle 20 so that the carrier is always maintained in an upright position.

In order to cover the device so as to protect it against the weather, a transparent bag (not shown) having one open end may be slipped over the top of the carrier so as to extend down and surround the sides of the lower carrier 10. The handle 20 may be gripped through the bag so as to maintain the bag in a closed condition over the carrier.

While the specific embodiment of the present invention is described, it is intended that the Letters Patent shall only be limited by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a carrier and display case for articles, in combination: a container having an enclosed bottom, upright sides and an open top; an inverted U-shaped rod having its extremities fixedly attached in a vertical position to opposed side walls of said container; at least one horizontal cross member extending between opposed legs of having its extremities fixed to opposed side walls of said container in such a manner as to maintain the legs of the U in an inverted vertical attitude; a first cross member extending in a horizontal attitude between the legs of said rod; second cross members disposed in a horizontal attitude below said first cross member and being fixed on opposed sides of said U-shaped rod; two display boards having means thereon for removably attaching a plurality of varied-shaped articles; first rounded hooks attached to the rear of each of said display boards and being adapted to partially encircle said first cross member; second clip means disposed on said display boards and being arranged to partially encircle said lower cross members, whereby said boards may be disposed on said rods with their upper edges below the upper extremity of said rod, with their lower edges above the upper extremity of said side walls;

and at an angle slightly inclined to the vertical.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which said means for attaching varied-shaped articles to said display board comsaid rod; a display board having means for removably retaining a plurality of varied-shaped articles thereon; clip means fixedly attached to said display board and operative to removably attach said display board to said cross member, said attaching means being so disposed as to maintain said board with its lower edge substantially above the upper extremities of said side walls and with its upper edge below the upper extension of said rod.

2. A combination carrier and display case for a plurality of articles comprising: a container having enclosed sides and upright walls and an open top; a U-shaped rod prises a plurality of holes spaced about said display boards; and an elongated elastic media adapted to be passed through said holes so as to confine articles between said display board and the elastic.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 792,793 Richmond June 20, 1905 1,656,150 Little Jan. 10, 1928 1,877,840 Frowenfeld Sept. 20, 1932 2,388,180 Pulver Oct. 30, 1945 2,819,485 Sparklin Jan. 14, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,084,577 France July 7, 1954 

